Friday, 10 April 2015

Book reviews: Lost Frogs and Cold Blood

Frogspawn, toadstrings,

and amphibian excitements!

In Search of Lost Frogs, Robin Moore

Cold Blood, Richard Kerridge

Phrynobatrachus - a puddle frog

Breviceps poweri, a rain frog

Both of these books took me back to personal occasions in an almost
disturbing way. Richard Kerridge's description of his childhood adventures with
amphibians could have been autobiographical for me. I still remember the almost
hysterical excitement of watching tadpoles in a pond, or in a jam jar and the
thrilling sense of connection with amphibian life. The sheer elegance of a newt
gliding suddenly out into an arena bounded by water plants and sunken wood and
hanging there, balanced in the water, still leaves me speechless

But the story of the Golden Toads of Monte Verde ran with me
through early adult life. When I was a zoology undergraduate, they were being
talked about. These frogs that looked as if they'd been cast in metal: almost
improbably vivid just sitting there on a stream bank. And then in 1989 one male was seen. The last that anyone has seen. They were gone.

Bufo taitanus - a dwarf toad!

That is the storyline that runs throughLost Frogs. Almost heartbreakingly poignant (at least for me),
is this repeated litany of the frogs (and other amphibians) found, documented -
and lost. Whole populations - and not always with small starting numbers -simply dwindling and disappearing over
the course of a year or two. Trying to understand these processes makes for a
fascinating book. There is a strong sense of how fragile (but wait for it)
amphibians are and how different factors all apparently conspire to undermine
their lifecycles, from habitat loss to variations in el Niño to the rampant
gallop of Chytrid fungus across the planet.

Bufo maculatus - a square-marked toad

Inevitably - hopefully - the story is more intricate than
that as, sometimes, just as suddenly, the frogs come back. Not all of them,
but enough to slap the face of that human arrogance that assumes that
"only we can save them". Given half a chance, those delicate frogs can
save themselves. Give them no chance at all and they still might find a way to
persist, quietly, inconspicuously, coping slowly with fungal infections,
waiting out changing water tables, just hanging on in there until it all got
better.

Kassina senegalensis - a running frog!

It's not all good news. Too many of those lost frogs have
stayed lost. Lost Frogs describes the 2010 -2011 Conservation International
project of the same name and the heroic collection of expeditions that set
offin search of their missing
amphibians. If it wasn't so poignant, it could sound like the follow up to
Michael Palin's Ripping Yarn "Over the Andes by Frog"

Chiromantis xerampelina: Great Grey Treefrogs

But it is poignant and the stories are often sad despite the
occasional triumphs and that's where Lost Frogs scores over Cold Blood
for me. They are both enthusiastic books, written by people who have real
passions for the subjects but in the end Cold Blood misses that wider context and a relevance or
engagement beyond the author's own interest. It reads for me like a writing
exercise grown into a book while Lost Frogs has a purpose and a sense of mission

Both books are worth reading especially if you're wondering
"why all this amphibian stuff? Why are they important?" but for motivation
and inspiration, Lost Frogs does it for
me

Cold Blood, Richard Kerridge, Chatto & Windus, 2014,978-0-70118-795-8

In Search of Lost Frogs, Robin Moore, Bloomsbury, 2014, 978-1408-1-8633-6

Photos: reading these books sent me off to dig out and scan
slides of my personal lost frogs: not scientifically lost but frogs from my
past. I offer various amphibians of Malawi! The names are the ones I knew them by 30 years ago. Nomenclature might have changed since!

1 comment:

Hello - When I first began researching for groups doing conservation breeding of frogs, either exitu or insitu, I was depressed by finding so few working to save specific species or any frog at all. Jay Manchand's 'Endangered Frogs Colouring Book' has just been published by us (My Fat Fox Ltd) and by the end of my researches I'd found zoos and universities as well as a few precious conservation groups doing their best at conserving frogs through breeding them and ensuring that their ecosystems survive inatact. Big jobs. Important projects. I think we've gotten to a stage where these things are far more important than counting individual frogs. Frogs are disappearing 130,000 times faster than their normal extinction rate. Yes, there have been a few wonderful surprise! survivors but still too few. Jay's book is available on Amazon and 1/3 of its profits go to 'Save The Frogs!'. In every instance, we are the danger to frogs. It's not too late. In Jay's book, I suggest 28 different organizations actively working to save 12 different frog species to which you can help through donations. A few bucks here and there may do a world of difference.